A complicated hydraulic system of cogs and balances combine to deftly clamp and rotate any wine bottle, before neatly pouring the perfect glassful.

Its creator is the mechanical sculptor Rob Higgs, known for his weird and wonderful feats of creative engineering.

‘I design and make mechanical sculptures, contraptions and eccentric machines,’ said Higgs, ‘largely using found materials such as; old gears, wheels, chains and mechanical items found on old farmsteads, in boatyards and on scrapheaps.’

People are fascinated by his retro-futuristic contraptions, some of which include seagull-triggered foghorns and humanoid robots for NASA. His twelve foot long clockwork knife is displayed in Heston Blumenthal’s ‘The Perfectionist’s Café’, at Heathrow Terminal 2.

The ‘Out of the Ordinary’ sale will be honouring Christie’s 250th anniversary, and will feature a host of other curious treasures – including the possessions of Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia. The sale will take place on September 14 in South Kensington, London.

If you fancy having a look for yourself at this impressive oenological sculpture – Christie’s will be displaying the sale items to the public, from now until the auction date.